<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>nepenthe by Readinglass</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30122259">nepenthe</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Readinglass/pseuds/Readinglass'>Readinglass</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, Dream Smp, Edgar Allan Poe References, Gen, Heavy Angst, Open to Interpretation, Pseudo poetry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 02:00:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>602</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30122259</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Readinglass/pseuds/Readinglass</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>ne·pen·thes<br/>/nəˈpenTHēz/<br/>noun: nepenthe<br/>1.<br/>LITERARY<br/>a drug described in Homer's Odyssey as banishing grief or trouble from a person's mind</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sam | Awesamdude &amp; TommyInnit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>nepenthe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is rather cryptic and poetry styled, if that sort of writing makes you uncomfortable please read with caution! Nothing heavy is discussed though.<br/>no drug use in this btw! I just wanted to allude to Sam’s wants for peace with Nepenthes! So dw <br/>Thanks max as well for beta reading for me :] he’s a lad</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor<br/>
Shall be lifted—nevermore!</p><p> </p><p>It’s quiet today.</p><p>An odd circumstance, but a welcome one for the man.</p><p>The only grievances to this, would be the creak of the wood. </p><p>And the sound of the record player’s tune arm descending onto the record atop the turntable.</p><p>It crinkles, cracks, and pops and he flinches at the harsh reminder. </p><p>But it passes, and Chirp is as pleasant of a tune as he remembers. </p><p>It’s Elpis’s favorite melody. A hopeful tune, one of nostalgia that begins suffocating him as he leans against the walls of his house. </p><p>Elpis’s favorite melody. </p><p>He sinks downwards to the ground, chirp has begun cracking again. Did it ever stop? It’s difficult to say.</p><p>A few of the spare papers littered with questions that have been helplessly nailed against the wall slide down with him. He feels the crinkling of the pieces grow louder as he fully sits. </p><p>The window is shut tight. </p><p>He should open it. </p><p>He isn’t going to, though. </p><p>Because he’s a coward.</p><p>And he knows it.</p><p>It’s being extra loud tonight, he must say.</p><p>The house does not have a window. He said he would make one and yet he has not. The Warden is horrible with promises. </p><p>He ponders wearily of his past faux promises as the static of Chirp finds itself ringing through The Warden's ears. </p><p>The static sounds like lava. Does The Warden like lava? He never seemed to lower it. So it’s a fair assumption to make.</p><p>No, he did. The Warden did lower it. He lowered it after the 4th slam into the box’s Plutonian floor. </p><p>Does he still remember his laugh? If the record player's tonearm is pressed further into the record, he flinches. Does his laugh sound like that? </p><p>He’s staring weakly at the figure in front of him. Two battered palms left gently placed along the sides of the small record player. </p><p>Two sets of contrasting voids meet as the two stare. The small one opens his mouth as if to speak but the words can not exit. The two have something in common.</p><p>The Warden continues to stare as two small pupils sketch themselves in and out of existence.<br/>
He’s still talking, but The Warden can not hear. He’s pushing the arm of the record down too forcefully. Everything is meshing and rotting to the point of incomprehensibility. </p><p>The only outlier is the small one's heart. The beating is growing ear splittingly loud with each breath that escapes The Warden.</p><p>He allows himself to lower his eyes for just a moment, the small one has vanished leaving nothing but an empty record player back right where Sam had left it when he exited his home that morning. </p><p>Chirp continues to fill the silence. </p><p>He leans back against the wall and allows his hands to cover his eyes. </p><p>He’s growing impatient. The banging solidifies that. The Warden should listen more. </p><p>“Sam…” </p><p>It’s crystal clear. No amount of music or pounding against the paper covered plaster behind him could do anything to prevent how sharply and precisely the cry pierces his ears. </p><p>“Let me out, please.” </p><p>Is he going to answer? The heart from beyond Erebus begin’s screeching. </p><p>“Please. It hurts.” </p><p>He’s started clawing now. It's hopeless though, Elpis’s is damned to the box. Clawing can not break its Plutonian walls. </p><p>The banging is ear-splitting. </p><p>And Chirp’s static is becoming alien. </p><p>“I’m so scared.” </p><p>The raven cries in tune. </p><p>As night shores wash roughly against the beaches of Pandora’s tomb,</p><p>A Warden stows in solitary silence.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I got a shock of inspiration for this whilst listening to it’s just a burning memory / Heartaches on loop, so I decided to visit my two favorite Edgar stories that encapsulate Sam’s themes pretty well and made something out of it :] enjoy!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>